India has seen a rapid rise in heart disease over the past few decades as lifestyle changes and an aging population have led to increased risk factors like diabetes, obesity, and lack of exercise. Coronary stents have revolutionized the treatment of blocked heart arteries in India and around the world. Here is an overview of coronary stents and their role in treating heart disease patients in India.
What are Coronary Stents?
A coronary stent is a small, expandable mesh tube made of metal that is used to keep coronary arteries open in the treatment of narrowed or blocked arteries of the heart. When a coronary artery is blocked by plaque buildup, blood flow to the heart muscle is reduced, which can cause symptoms like chest pain or a heart attack. Coronary stents are delivered to the blocked artery through a tiny balloon catheter inserted through an artery in the groin or arm. When the balloon is inflated, it expands the stent and presses it against the artery wall to keep it propped open. Stents restore normal blood flow to the heart and relieve symptoms. Over time, the artery wall grows over the stent, anchoring it in place.
Types of Stents Used in India
There are several types of stents commonly used in India for different patient and clinical situations:
Bare-Metal Stents - The earliest stents were made of bare metal like stainless steel. These provided good initial vessel opening but had a higher risk of re-blockage over time due to scarring.
Drug-Eluting Stents - To reduce re-blockage risk, drug-eluting stents were developed which slowly release medication to prevent excessive scarring. Drugs like sirolimus and paclitaxel are commonly used. These reduced re-blockage rates significantly compared to bare-metal stents.
Bioresorbable Stents - Made of materials that dissolve over time, bioresorbable stents provide temporary support and then disappear from the body after typically 2-3 years. This eliminates the need for long-term blood thinner medications. However, they are more expensive than drug-eluting stents.
Stent Technology Advancing Heart Disease Care in India
The widespread availability of Indian Coronary Stents has enabled a minimally invasive treatment option for heart disease patients across India. Prior to stents, blocked arteries could only be treated through open-heart bypass surgery, which was riskier, more complex, and had a longer recovery time. Stents allowed treating blocked arteries through small punctures in the skin instead of open-chest surgery. This has major benefits for patients:
- Lower risk of surgical complications like excessive bleeding or infections
- Shorter hospital stays of only a day or two rather than a week or more for bypass surgery
- Faster recovery times, allowing patients to resume normal activities within a few days
- Avoiding chest incisions and cracking open of the breastbone in bypass surgery
- Less painful and more cosmetic results compared to bypass surgery scars
Stents have vastly increased the number of heart disease patients who can be safely and effectively treated. This has had enormous economic and social benefits, allowing millions of Indians to quickly resume productivity following minimally invasive stenting procedures instead of major bypass surgery.
Subsidies and Cost Factors for Stents in India
While stents have expanded treatment access, affordability is still a challenge for some Indians due to the relatively high cost. The government has introduced some price controls and subsidies for stents through schemes like the National Program for Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases:
- Capping of prices for bare-metal and drug-eluting stents at Rs. 7,260 and Rs. 29,000 respectively under the National List of Essential Medicines
- Reimbursement of stent costs for below poverty line families covered under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana health insurance scheme
- Up to 80% subsidy on angioplasty and stenting costs at certain government hospitals
- However, out-of-pocket costs for uninsured private hospital procedures can still be prohibitive for many
- Drug-coated and bioresorbable stents remain many times more expensive than basic metal varieties
- Overall cardiovascular treatment costs pose a major disease burden in India
Going forward, further price controls, subsidies, and health coverage expansions will be important to improve stent accessibility across economic classes in India's growing heart patient population. Increased domestic manufacturing under initiatives like Make in India may also boost availability while reducing costs.
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The global bioresorbable stents market is expected to reach USD 417.2 Million by 2022 from USD 223.6 Million in 2016, at a CAGR of 11.5% during the forecast period 2017–2022.
Market growth of bioresorbable stents is attributed to the growing aging population susceptible to coronary and peripheral artery diseases, rising PCI procedures, increasing focus of companies on clinical trials of bioresorbable stents, increasing adoption of these stents by physicians and patients, and patients’ preference for minimally invasive therapies.However, factors such as the increasing product withdrawals due to severe complications of these stents may hamper market growth.Browse 73 Market Data Tables and 33 Figures spread through 138 Slides and in-depth TOC on “Bioabsorbable Stent/Bioresorbable Scaffold Market”http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/bioabsorbable-stent-market-40983380.htmlEarly buyers will receive 10% customization on this reportThe growth of the market is attributed to growing aging population susceptible to coronary and peripheral artery diseases, rising PCI procedures, increasing focus of companies on clinical trials of bioresorbable Stent, increasing adoption of these Stent by physicians and patients, and preference for minimally invasive therapies.Bioresorbable polymer-based Stent projected to grow at the highest CAGRBased on material, the market is segmented into bioresorbable polymer-based Stent and bioresorbable metallic Stent.
The bioresorbable polymer-based Stent segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
The growth of this market is attributed to companies’ increasing focus on developing polymeric Stent and approvals being granted for polymer-based Stent across various regionsDownload PDF Brochure:http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=40983380Based on applications, the coronary artery diseases are expected to dominate the market in 2017Based on application, the market is segmented into coronary artery diseases and peripheral artery diseases.
In 2017, coronary artery diseases accounted for the largest share of the market.
The dominance of this segment is attributed to factors such as increasing aging population prone to coronary artery diseases and the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle habits leading to increased risk of these diseases.Europe to dominate the market during the forecast periodIn 2017, Europe is expected to account for the largest share of the market.
The global Bioresorbable Coronary Stents Market size is expected to value at USD 247 million by 2025.
The market is subject to witness a substantial growth due to the easy availability of post-approved with and tested lab results for Magmaris, Magnitude and next generation Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) system.Early adoption of the bioresorbable devices allows patients to live normal life with regular monitoring of artery.
Globally, the bioresorbable coronary stents industry is predicted to grow at CAGR of 15% in forecast period, providing numerous opportunities for market players to invest for research and development in the market.The pediatric patient suffering from genetic coronary conditions are targeted audience for fully dissolvable stents that enable normal functioning of vasomotor functions and vessel growth, thus driving the market demand for bioresorbable coronary stents market in recent years.
Though, unfavorable post-approval lab results are significantly hampering the sales of Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) system due to concerns for safety and operational capability of such fully dissolvable devices.
Thus, the rising need for more reliable and tested solutions coupled with post-approval data from governmental regulatory agencies, are opening up market for lesser known stents like Me Res-100 and DESolve in coming years.Growing competition in the bioresorbable coronary stents market is expected boost market growth in upcoming years.
Increasing number of joint ventures, acquisitions, and mergers by industry leaders for the development of the innovative products in the market are further solidifying market demand.
